"Ki Tisa” (When You Take), Exodus 30:11–34:35; 1 Kings 18:1–39; 1 Kings 18:20–39; Matthew 17:1–13
People Are Not Numbers. The Torah prescribes a special way of taking a census of Israel. When taking a census, the people of Israel were to each contribute a half-shekel coin. Then the census taker could tally the number of coins to arrive at the sum total of the people: This is what everyone who is numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the LORD (Exodus 30:13). The coins provide a way to avoid numbering people off. God does not allow His people to be counted by means of assigning a number. Why? Unfortunately, the Bible does not explain it to us. For whatever reason, numbering off the people of Israel is considered a sin. Rabbi Rashi suggests that numbers are more susceptible to misfortune, as happened in the days of King David. King David took a census of his fighting men, but after the numbering was completed, he was conscience stricken: Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly” (2 Samuel 24:10). As a punishment for David’s sin of counting the people, a plague fell upon Israel. The prohibition on counting people seems inexplicable, but perhaps God wants to teach us that people are not numbers. When people are numbered, their individual merit is lost. Anyone who has ever dealt with government bureaucracy has felt the dehumanizing effect of being treated as simply a number. In the camps of Nazi Germany, the Nazis branded identification numbers into the flesh of their victims. God told Abraham that his seed would be uncountable as the stars. This promise was understood to mean that the people of Israel should not be counted. For that reason, even David did not dare count all the Israelites. Yet God “counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them” (Psalm 147:4). With God, each star is a unique individual with its own name. How much more so is that the case with His people. If we want to see the world with God’s eyes, we need to learn to see people as individuals. Each one is precious; each one possesses a unique soul of inestimable value. After the half-shekels were collected and counted, they were used for the service of the Tabernacle. The priesthood used the money to buy the daily sacrifices. That way every person in Israel had a share in the sacrifices. In the days of the apostles, the half-shekel was collected every year. Once, when it was time to collect the half-shekel, the Apostle Peter was abashed to realize that he did not have even a single coin. He went to the Master to inquire about what he should do. Yahshua told him to go to the lake, drop in a hook and catch a fish. In the mouth of the fish Peter found a coin worth a whole shekel. He used it to pay for his half-shekel and the Master’s. A Sign Between Us. The Tabernacle was to be a holy place, a sanctuary in space where Israel could meet God. In the same way the Sabbath is a sanctuary in time in which we can meet with God. So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant (Exodus 31:16). Why are the laws of Sabbath repeated here in the Torah? The Sabbath laws have already been stated in Exodus 16 and Exodus 20. By repeating them here (and again in Exodus 35) in conjunction with the instructions about building the Tabernacle, YHWH shows us that there is a connection between the Sabbath and Tabernacle. The Israelites might have assumed that, though regular melachah (work) was forbidden on the Sabbath, it was all right to work on the Sabbath to build the Tabernacle. Since the work was holy work, it should be permissible on the Sabbath. The repetition of the Sabbath laws next to the instructions for the Tabernacle makes it clear that the Sabbath was not to broken even for that holy work. The Sabbath was given as a sign of God's covenant with Israel. It is a perpetual sign of the covenant relationship between the children of Israel and YHWH. The Tabernacle functioned in a similar manner. It too was a sign of Israel's relationship with God. The congregation of Israel (God’s people of mixed national ancestry) are commanded to observe the Sabbath. "You shall surely observe My Sabbaths. ... The sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath" (Exodus 31:13, 16). The Hebrew word translated as "observe" is shamar (שמר). The word shamar means "to guard, protect and keep." God wants His people to guard and protect the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. This can be compared to a man who wanted to marry a girl. He gave her an expensive diamond engagement ring as a sign of his commitment to her. He told her, "This ring is a sign between you and me. It represents the covenant of our betrothal. Guard it well and keep it safe." YHWH told Israel, "This is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am YHWH who sanctifies you" (Exodus 31:13). Just as the diamond engagement ring represented that the girl was set apart for her fiancé, the Sabbath represents that Israel is sanctified by God. As it was once said "More than the Jewish people have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jewish people." In other words, more than they keeping the Sabbaths, the Sabbaths kept them. God was with them partially because they kept His covenant of which the Sabbaths are a part. He was not with them when they broke the covenant, through not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath has been an anchor of Jewish (and grafted in non Jews) identity throughout the generations. Although the construction of the Sanctuary is an important and sacred task, God makes it clear that His commandment to rest on the Sabbath takes priority over this worthy goal. Is there a message to us of today in that? We also may be working toward worthwhile achievements and even those that are for the purpose of serving Yahweh; but we must remember that God prefers us to put them on hold for a day in order to keep the Shabbat holy, the purpose for which is to commune with Him at this special time He put aside to be with us. We must remember it is not another word for nor does it mean “rest” as many try to define it. It is a name of a period of time, between the sixth moon and the seventh. Unlike the other periods which only had numbers, 1-to 6. So man cannot change that period to the one between the seventh and the first moon and call it Sabbath or their Sabbath; much less between midnight Saturday to midnight Sunday. Putting our work and things of self aside to be with Him on the seventh is a special sign of our covenantal relationship with the Almighty God. He destroyed many Israelites and sent others into Babylon for breaking His Sabbaths. That is how serious He took it. Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Eze20:12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. Eze20:20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. [For further reading read Isaiah 56:2-57; 58:13.] It is a testimony that He is the Creator and just as He created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, so are we to work for six days and rest on the seventh. “It will be a sign between Me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’” (Exodus 31:17). How do we identify the god one worships? By the days they keep holy. Each religious system have their gods and their god’s holy days. They are equally a sign as Yahweh’s days are His sign. Golden Calf v Tabernacle. The Torah tells the story of the golden calf and the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle represents God's way of doing spirituality. The golden calf represents man's way of doing spirituality. God and Israel were both striving for the same end: They were each attempting to create a medium whereby Israel could worship God and celebrate their relationship with Him. Their methods of accomplishing that end were very different, though. The golden calf was a poor substitute for the glory of the Tabernacle. The Torah tells about the work of making the golden calf to contrast it against the work of the Tabernacle. When Aaron made the calf, he did not yet know that God had chosen to make him the high priest over Israel. When the people asked him to make an idol for them, he took the role of priesthood himself. If he had waited for Moses to return, he would have learned that God had chosen to install him as a priest in the Tabernacle. The people did not know that God had ordered them to raise a contribution of gold and precious materials for the building of the Tabernacle. If they had waited, Moses would have told them. Instead, Aaron told them to donate the gold of their jewellery for the idol. The people were to fashion the furnishings of the Tabernacle of gold. Instead, Aaron fashioned the idol "with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf" (Exodus 32:4). The people were to build a bronze altar for burnt offerings and a golden altar for incense. Instead, we read that "he built an altar" (Exodus 32:5) for the idol. The people were to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar in the Tabernacle. Instead, we read that the people "offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings" (Exodus 32:6) to the idol. The Tabernacle was to be a resting place of God's divine, invisible presence. Instead, the people made a visible, idolatrous representation of God. All the things that Israel desired, God had already planned to give them. Today churches and denominations have set up their own worship system as they like it rather than how God prescribed. Rather than harmonious vocal voices we hear loud drums, and other instruments. Rather than prostration before God, we have dancing or rolling around on the floor uttering non human sounds. Even a party like or social event atmosphere as the calf method rather than the one prescribed by God through Moses. Standing in the Gap. "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said to him: 'Come, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.'" (Exodus 32:1). While Moses is on Mount Sinai receiving God’s instruction on the stone tablets (Exodus 31:18), the people become impatient for his return and demand that Aaron make them a god they can see (just like they knew of in Egypt)! Aaron gives in to the pressure and fashions a golden calf, proclaiming the idol as their god: “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:4). Because they were in Egypt for 430 years and had forgotten the God of their father(s) Abraham, Isaac and Israel, knowing only Egyptian pagan system, their thought Yahweh God was like other gods. They had also forgotten how He wished to be worshipped. Not with noise and dancing as pagan ways which many today inherited from the new denominations of the reformation and think they are of the bible. God’s way is of calm learning and vocal sounds accompanied with primarily stringed instruments; but that is another study. However, Ask why would noise of singing alert that something was wrong? Exo 32:17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. Exo 32:18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. Exo 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot… When God sees the people worshiping a golden calf, fashioned to look like the god Hathor, He threatens to destroy the nation of Israel and to start all over again with Moses. “‘I have seen these people,’ the Lord said to Moses, ‘and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave Me alone so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.’” (Exodus 32:9–10). When we mix with false systems, even if called to believe in the true Messiah and saviour by such a system, we ought to remember, it is but a calling. As babes onto milk; but then we may have to move from that system or denomination onto one with a more sure word and obedience to Yahweh’s ways. Instead of accepting God’s offer to make him the beginning of a great nation, Moses stands in the gap and intercedes on behalf of the people of Israel. We see in this section that even though Moses prays for the people, he is so angry when he comes down from the mountain and witnesses their idolatry that he smashes the tablets of testimony that God had engraved with His own hand. Moses then destroys the Golden Calf, and the primary instigators to this idolatry are put to death (Ex 32:26) Although God relents from destroying Israel entirely, their sin is not without consequences, 3,000 men fall under the sword of judgment that day. Amazingly enough, on Shavuot (Pentecost), which commemorates the giving of the Torah, God poured out His Ruach (Spirit) in Jerusalem soon after the resurrection of Yahshua (called Jesus by many) and the exact same number were baptized! “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:41). His pouring out of God’s Ruach (Spirit) underscores the fact that Yahshua did not come to condemn Israel; but to save them. There is hope for us yet. Moses the Concerned Leader. After forty days of fasting in his tent of meeting, Moses began to negotiate with God. Ever since the sin of the golden calf, the LORD had not referred to Israel as His people. Rather, they were Moses’ people: “Your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt” (Exodus 32:7). Moses, on the other hand, remained in God’s favour. As he negotiated for forgiveness and atonement, he banked heavily on God’s favour for him. He complained that, although he remained in God’s favour, he felt disfavoured because he was told to lead the people without God’s presence. The Hebrew word translated as “favour (chen, חן)” can be and is also sometimes translated as “grace.” Thus Moses argued for mercy and forgiveness on the basis of God’s grace toward him. You have said, “I have known you by name, and you have also found favour in My sight.” If I have found favour in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favour in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people (Exodus 33:12-13). On the basis of Moses’ complaint, the LORD relented ever so slightly. Whereas previously He had declared that He would not go with Israel as they went up from Sinai, now He conceded that He would go with Moses. He said to Moses, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Note that the pronoun “you” appears is in the singular form. The LORD only promised to go with Moses and give Moses rest. He did not say so regarding Israel, nor did He acknowledge them as His people. Moses rejected the offer. Speaking in the first-person plural form, he said, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). It was not adequate for God to accompany Moses, He needed to accompany the whole people. Moses deliberately identified himself with the people. It was as if Moses said, “If you want to show me favour and go with me, you need to show us all favour and go with all of us, because I am with the people.” Moses would accept nothing less than grace for the whole nation. He knew that he enjoyed the favour of the LORD; he sought to include the nation in the merit of God’s favour for him: For how then can it be known that I have found favour in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth? (Exodus 33:16) Moses deliberately identified himself with the people, saying “us,” “we,” and, “I and Your people.” He no longer appealed to the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He no longer appealed to the “what-will-the-Egyptians-think” argument. He appealed merely to God’s expressed favour for him. On his own merit in God’s eyes, Moses hoped to atone for the entire nation. It was the only thing he had left with which to negotiate. YHWH conceded again and responded, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favour in My sight and I have known you by name” (Exodus 33:17). God agreed to forgive the nation, go with them, and acknowledge them as His people on the basis of His favour for Moses. This story illustrates the Chasidic concept of tzaddikism where the merit and favour of a single righteous person can be extended to others. On the basis of God’s gracious favour for one man, the entire nation received the forgiveness of sin and a restoration of relationship with the Almighty. On the merit of one righteous man’s standing with God, all Israel is granted standing with God. These are the mechanics of the gospel. The ultimate redeemer is like the first redeemer, making atonement for the entire nation on the basis of His merit alone. The story also illustrates the meaning of the word grace. Christian teachers sometimes define “grace” as God’s unmerited favour. On the contrary, grace (chen, חן) implies merited favour. Someone did merit it. Our righteous Messiah merited God’s favour and, like Moses, He identified Himself with us so that we might share in that favour. Chapters 15 and 16 of John’s gospel gives a little more of that association. God Gives Second and more Chances. Like the Israelites, some of us might go through periods of our lives where we descend into sin or fall away from Yahweh’s ways; but He promises the hope of restoration and renewal if we will agree to come back into His presence in repentance to find forgiveness. These unique tables of stone, written on both sides, were paramount to God’s system. He therefore instructs Moses to come back up to get replacements for the ones he broke. “Now Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered” (Exodus 34:1). At that time, God gives Moses some further instructions to write down, such as Exo 34:25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. Exo 34:26 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of Yahweh thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. At the end of this further meeting with God, Moses writes these things in a book and God writes what He did on the first stones onto a second set (v27). Though many, if not most bibles state God wrote the ten “commandments” on these stones, the actual translation is ten “words”. A “word” standing for ten subject matters. For elaboration see a study I think is titled “What was written on Stone” at www.forwardtoyahweh.com In this Torah portion, Moses descends from Mount Sinai the first time, ascends the mountain, and descends again. It could be viewed as, he came down from heaven (Gen 1:20), returned to heaven, and came down a second time. The first and second coming of the Messiah follows the same pattern. As the divine Logos (Word of God) descended from the heavenly glory of the Father to take on flesh and dwell among men, He came with a purpose: to save Israel and to bring salvation to the world. Just like Moses at Mount Sinai, the Messiah descended on a rescue mission to call Israel to repentance and to avert the disaster of judgment. He descended to renew the covenant between God and His people. When Moses came down the first time, he carried the Word of God, not the Word made flesh but the Word made stone, upon the two tablets of the covenant. In this way the Word descended from the heavens and entered this lower world: “The tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets” (Exodus 32:16). The breaking of the tablets allude to the death of the Messiah. The letters of the tablet can be are likened to its soul, while the tablets themselves are its body. When the soul deserts the body, the body is ready for burial. When Moshe saw the letters fly off, he broke the tablets. Moses interceded in prayer and fasting on behalf of the people. He provoked them to repent. Moses said to the people, “Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin” (Exodus 32:30). God told Moses to carve out new stone tablets and return to Him on the mountain. If the tablets that Moses broke allude to the body of Yahshua which died for the sins of Israel, then we might say that the new tablets represent His resurrected body, the token of the new covenant. Moses brought the new tablets back up the mountain. Likewise, Yahshua rose from the dead in a renewed body and returned to the Father. Just as the new tablets went back up the mountain, so too, Messiah ascended back to the heavens, back to the Father. Moses went back down the mountain with the new tablets. Likewise, when the Messiah returns, He “will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28). Moses’ face radiated the brilliant glory of the LORD. So too, when Messiah returns, He will come like Moses, in His Father’s glory, in power and splendour, as He has promised, saying, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels” (Matthew 16:27). God is so good! He passed in front of Moses and proclaimed to him His Divine character: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness (or goodness) [chesed / covenant loyalty] and truth; who keeps lovingkindness [chesed] for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.” (Exodus 34:6–7). The more we become conformed and transformed into the image and likeness of God, in whose image we have been created, the more we will demonstrate these wonderful qualities of His “chesed”mercy, grace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, and truth. We will become less judgmental and more merciful to the deserving. We may criticize less and assist more. However, bear in mind God corrects who He loves. 1Ti 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. 2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. Also Proverb 27:6. Oh, how we long to be changed, to be more like Him. Coming into covenant with God is not about just following the rules; it is about having a deep, abiding, relationship with a loving God. Battle for the Eternal Covenant with Israel. Today, there is a portion of the Christian Church that believes in the doctrine of replacement theology, a fallacious teaching that contends God is no longer in covenant with the Jewish People. That He has disowned them and has replaced them with the Christian Church. Those who believe they are now God’s new Israel display an arrogance that starkly contrasts Moses’ humility, a man who could have replaced Israel but, instead, prayed for their survival. The apostle Paul warned gentile believers against their conceit in the family tree of God. He made it clear the olive tree supports them not them the olive tree (Romans 11:18). Rather than replacing the tree, Gentile Believers are grafted in as branches to an ancient tree whose root is still what we call Jewish; though God calls them “my people Israel”. His ways are the food that nourishes the tree. It is quite impossible that God has substituted another people for His Chosen because He has promised that He will never forsake or abandon His people Israel: “For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance” (Psalm 94:14). Rom_11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Some scriptures to note in this week’s reading. Exo 30:27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, Exo 30:28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. Exo 30:29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. Exo 30:37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. Exo 30:38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people. Exo 31:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Exo 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths (weekly and annual of Lev 23) ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. Exo 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Exo 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Exo 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. Exo 31:17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. Exo 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God. Exo 32:33 And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Exo 33:7 And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation (what we call Church today). And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. Exo 33:13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. Grace existed since the Old Testament. So today’s New Testament believers are no more under grace than those of the Old. Exo 34:15 Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; epeated by Paul in: 1Co 10:27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 1Co 10:28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof: Psa106:28 They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor (lord Peor), and ate the sacrifices of the dead.1Co 8:4-10 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one….. 1Co 8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled…. 1Co 8:10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; Prophetic section called (Haftarah) Ki Tisa: Battle for Truth. In this week’s prophetic reading, the prophet Elijah has a mighty victory on Mount Carmel when he sets out to prove to the Israelites that there is no god but Yahweh the God of Israel. He challenges the prophets of the false god, Baal, to a contest. The whole system of God’s true ways had been taken over and turned by Jezebel via king Ahab who married her contrary to God’s directive. Two altars are made: one for Baal (lord) and one for the God of Israel. Oxen are slaughtered and set on the altars. But they do not light a fire to burn the sacrifice. Elijah and the prophets of Baal challenge each other’s god to send fire down from Heaven to burn up the sacrifice. Elijah makes a mockery out of their false god and proves in dramatic fashion without any doubt that YHVH (יהוה) is the true God. Elijah effectively starts Israel on a path away from their infidelity and back to the One True God. The prophets of God are often unappreciated, and in ancient days many were put to death. Instead of thanking Elijah for killing all of the prophets of Baal, King Ahab blamed Elijah for causing Israel trouble (1 Kings 18:17). Ahab chose to forsake a true prophet of God, Elijah, to protect the interests of his Phoenician wife, Jezebel. It was this pagan woman who enticed the Chosen People of God to follow her false god, Baal. It has been said that behind every good man is a great woman, and the wrong woman can also be a man’s downfall. We see many examples in the Bible in which a woman has powerful influence for good or for evil. We need only to look at the examples of Eve and Adam, Sarah and Abraham, Esther and King Ahasuerus, Bathsheba and David, Abigail and David, and Delilah with Samson to see this truth. Fortunately Job, abided by his own thoughts. Because of these dangers, God has warned us to not marry non-Believers, lest they turn our hearts away from God. We see this warning played out with King Solomon, to whom God gave such great wisdom; but who, nevertheless, lacked wisdom in his decision to marry foreign women. In the end, they turned his heart away from God to worship false gods. Godly women need to be conscious of the influence they can have over the men in their lives and use it wisely in the fear of Yahweh. Three scriptures on relationship you may wish to read in their context are 1Co 7:34 There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. Mat 19:10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 1Co 7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. Queen Jezebel used her powerful influence to lead Israel into the sin of worshiping idols. Elijah helped Israel to see the error of their false beliefs. If we look at their lives, on the surface it could seem that Jezebel was more blessed than Elijah. She had power, position, and prosperity, while Elijah had no lineage, no worldly position and sometimes he went hungry and lived in fear. He even despaired at times, believing that there was no one left who wanted to serve God. He longed for fellowship; but often felt lonely. There were times he felt so depressed and discouraged, he wanted to die. Yet rather than mix with the Jezebel and Ahab church, he preferred to remain in isolation. He certainly does not sound much like a blessed man, does he? However, we cannot take only a temporal view of life; we need not see this life as the end, for all of eternity awaits us, and we may have treasures stored up in Heaven that no eye has even seen! “Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked” (Psalm 37:16). If we look at the lives of Elijah and Jezebel, we see that power, position, and prosperity cannot be our end goal; rather, our primary aim in life must be to stay faithful to Yahweh God of Israel, in sickness and in health, in riches and in poverty, for better or for worse, from this time forth and forevermore! Sounds like a marriage vow? Well we are supposed to be His bride metrophoricly. “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but live in the fear of the LORD always” (Proverbs 23:17). We can see that these two people, Jezebel and Elijah, are each zealous in their own mission; one for Yahweh God and one for a pagan false god; but their lives ended in vastly different ways. While Jezebel sat applying her makeup, she was pushed out the window by her servants and fell to her death. The horses trampled her body, and the dogs savagely ate her flesh. As prophesied by God. What a horrible end, yet, her eternal destiny is far more horrifying. Elijah, who endured great and severe trials in this lifetime, went up to Heaven on a chariot of fire. Similar to the teaching of the Messiah with the rich man and Lazarus Luk16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Someday, like Elijah, we could be in Heaven enjoying God’s Presence forever. Life’s present troubles and trials will fade away. There, we will be comforted on every side, as God wipes away all our tears.So let us not despair if our lives are not perfect; if we see sinners that seem to prosper in their ways while we struggle and endure hardship. One day God will show us His glory and we will be forever safe with Him. In the meantime, His presence and love will bring perfect peace in the midst of our circumstances. So, let us put on the full armour of God, that we may be able to stand firm until that final day. Remember to pray for the peace in Israel. As we have seen with Moses and Elijah, one person can make a huge difference! Matthew 17:1-17. Matt 1:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. Mat 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. It is thought Moses represented the teachings of the Law and Elizah that of the prophets. Through them one can see the Messiah. He and the apostles used both to open the eyes of others about Him. Shalom and happy studying.